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Exporting starts at home

A short while ago I dined at a very well known Leicestershire venue that attracts people from all over the country. The dessert menu included 'a selection of French cheeses'. Nothing wrong in that you may say but ponder a little longer and you begin to wonder why specifically French cheeses. That venue is but a few miles from the source of some of the best cheeses in the world, made locally in Leicestershire. The UK more widely makes a huge range of some of the finest cheeses that money can buy.

2 March 2011

Mike Hunter - betterlanguages.com

betterlanguages.com have been active EMITA members since the organisation was founded, attending the majority of their events, as the membership rates are going up due to the current financial climate we thought you would be interested to read our views on the benefits of EMITA membership.

Selling – or not: As a translation company many of our clients are exporters, we translate labels and packaging, marketing materials and websites, and of course, we would be very happy to hear from other members interested in our services, but this isn’t a major aim of our membership. We’ve seen professional services companies come and go as EMITA members, and a few, like in many networking groups, arrive, shout loudly about what they have to offer, and disappear equally as fast when they don’t sell anything. I think that networking, sharing common experience, and learning from other members is much more important, and has longer term value.
Learning about different export markets: we use in-country translators in over 50 countries, and work across a wide range of languages and cultures, but you can never know too much about a target market. We find the country presentations particularly useful, especially in terms of wider economic issues, pace of change, and learning more about cultural issues.
Shared experience of EMITA members: most companies have similar issues with export markets, regardless of sector, things like red tape, import restrictions, getting paid, etc. As a service, delivering work electronically we avoid a lot the hassles experienced by traditional exporters, but if our clients can’t deliver goods to market, it isn’t good for us either.
Topical international trade issues: some of the themed events have been very useful looking at things like changing economic conditions, legislative changes, and Government policy initiatives.
"Honking": when geese fly in formation, apparently they make so much noise, because they honk to encourage each other. There is nothing more encouraging in tough economic times than hearing stories of other exporters being successful, sometimes even against all odds in difficult markets, or against strong competition. This is one of the reasons I especially value many of the case studies, especially from businesses who have taken a risk, entered a market, and are honest enough to give a "warts and all" account, of what they did well, what went wrong, and what they could have done better.

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Spot on Mike. As a German I have never heard of 'warts and all' accounts, but it sounds interesting. We attend many but not all events for the same reasons. These events are well organised and offer a well of information and networking opportunities. As a linguist and director of a language agency providing translations / localisations and language tuition, it is a pleasure to watch that cultural awareness and etiquettes are part of most meetings.

Brigitte Peach, Languages for Life Ltd.
2011-03-02 22:11:55